For Bosnia & Herzegovina, I made a traditional stew called buranija, which can also be used to refer to green beans in the Bosnian language. I'm not usually a fan of green beans, but I think that's because they're typically prepared blanched or steamed. I don't care for their texture when prepared that way, but I like them better simmered in a stew like this one.
The first step was to saute some mirepoix veggies (carrot, onion, celery) along with a healthy does of smoked paprika, salt, and pepper.
I then added diced potato along with some dried herbs for extra flavor.
Buranija typically includes some type of meat, like beef or chicken, so I decided to throw in some frozen veggie beef crumbles. This also helped bump up the flavor a bit. I put in the green beans at this point as well. I opted for fresh beans rather than frozen or canned here, since they are supposed to be the star of the show.
Then, water and tomato paste to create the broth for the stew. I also added a bit more seasoning at this point.
Once it's done cooking, the water evaporates a bit and the potatoes help add some starch to thicken it up to create more of a stew consistency rather than a brothy soup. I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this stew. You can see that the green beans are cooked well, which makes me like them better. It reminded me a bit of the vegetable soup my great grandma and grandma used to make (minus the ham hock) and it was simple and easy but very flavorful. I would definitely make this again if I find myself with a bunch of green beans in a CSA or something. Bosnian food is pretty meat-heavy so it was nice to cook a traditional and flavorful vegetable-forward dish. In the first picture here you can see I added some goat cheese for creaminess, but I don't think it needs it.
Recipes Used: Buranija
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